Integrity House, a rehabilitation program for addiction and mental health, partnered with the New Jersey Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services last month on a $207,500 contract that enabled the organization to establish a nurse care management program.
The program will integrate nurse care managers to provide health services into three Newark Integrity House outpatient facilities. Among these services are medical assessments and screenings for hypertension, high cholesterol, viral hepatitis, heart disease and HIV/AIDS. This also includes health coaching, care coordination and partnerships for general and specialty medical providers.
Integrity House CEO Robert Budsock stressed the dangers of substance abuse without proper treatment and rehabilitation.
“This contract from DMHAS will help us provide essential services to people struggling with substance use disorder who would otherwise be unable to get help,” Budsock said. “Many people experiencing addiction encounter roadblocks to medical services. As a result, many illnesses or ailments are often left untreated and get worse, further impacting the individual and complicating their recovery from substance use disorder. Our nurse care management will allow us to help whoever comes through our doors through medical, education, prevention and recovery services.”
The new nurse care management team will consist of the project director, Christina VanNess, a nurse care manager, Jessica Daughety, a case manager, a health coach and a peer recovery specialist. The team will work in three different Newark outpatient locations: 1091 Broad St., 26 Longworth St., and 659 Martin Luther King Blvd.
The nurse care management program will support Integrity House in further integrating substance use disorder treatment, mental health services and physical health services to assist individuals in achieving full health and sustained recovery. The program enhances Integrity House’s capacity to address inequities in health care access often experienced by historically marginalized populations that often face barriers in treatment.
